OpenAI

Technical Deployment Lead, Forward Deployed Engineering - Madrid

OpenAI2 weeks ago
Location

Madrid, Spain

Type

Full Time

Salary

EUR 140,000 – 220,000

Level

Senior

Role

Lead

Posted

Jul 10, 2026

Full TimeSenior

The role

Summary

Lead OpenAI's Forward Deployed Engineering team in Madrid as a Technical Deployment Lead, driving complex AI system deployments from concept through production adoption. This high-autonomy role combines technical project management expertise with customer-facing delivery leadership, requiring 7+ years of experience in complex customer engagements, strong AI/LLM systems knowledge, and the ability to translate between executive strategy and execution-level technical details. Success is measured by deployment impact, adoption metrics, milestone delivery, and product roadmap influence across enterprise customers in regulated sectors.

What you'll do

Own Technical Delivery Planning: Develop and execute comprehensive technical roadmaps for multiple interdependent workstreams. Translate business objectives into detailed delivery plans with clear milestones, dependency mapping, and acceptance criteria. Establish success metrics tied to customer outcomes and organizational strategic goals.
Execute Day-to-Day Engineering Operations: Drive continuous delivery execution across OpenAI Forward Deployed Engineering teams and customer engineering organizations. Maintain progress tracking systems, unblock technical impediments, sequence prioritized work, and make real-time trade-off decisions to protect critical path and delivery timelines.
Embed with Customer Teams for Production Deployment: Work onsite with enterprise customers (25-50% travel) to map production workflows, understand integration requirements, and translate business needs into technical delivery specifications. Lead customer onboarding, adoption programs, and organizational change management to ensure solutions become critical to customer operations.
Coordinate Cross-Functional Product and Research Partnerships: Collaborate with OpenAI Product and Research teams to ensure platform components, API features, and model capabilities align with deployment timelines and customer requirements. Advocate for deployment needs in product roadmap prioritization and share field signals that inform architectural decisions.
Codify and Systematize Solution Patterns: Extract reusable patterns, integration templates, and evaluation frameworks from customer deployments. Package field insights and create operational playbooks to improve deployment velocity, reduce rework, and enable scalable solutions across multiple enterprise customers.
Measure and Report Deployment Value: Establish impact hypotheses, baseline metrics, and KPIs for each deployment engagement. Conduct pre- and post-deployment impact measurements, quantify ROI, and communicate results to executive sponsors. Track adoption rates, user engagement, and business outcomes against success criteria.

What we look for

Technical

AI/LLM Systems Architecture and IntegrationDeep practical experience architecting, deploying, and integrating large language model systems into production environments. Understanding of solution patterns, API integration approaches, prompt engineering frameworks, evaluation methodologies, and common production pitfalls when deploying AI systems at scale.
Technical Project Management and ExecutionAdvanced proficiency in managing complex technical programs with multiple dependencies, high-stakes timelines, and cross-functional coordination. Expertise in risk management, critical path analysis, sequencing optimization, technical trade-off analysis, and maintaining delivery momentum under pressure.
System Architecture and Technical FluencyStrong ability to understand, design, and critique system-level technical architectures. Competency discussing infrastructure, databases, APIs, deployment patterns, data pipelines, and enterprise integration challenges. Capability to pressure-test technical designs and make informed architectural recommendations.
Enterprise Workflow Analysis and MappingDemonstrated ability to deeply understand enterprise customer workflows, business processes, data flows, and integration requirements. Skill in translating complex business requirements into technical specifications and designing solutions that fit customer operational contexts.

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or Related FieldFormal education in computer science, software engineering, electrical engineering, mathematics, or related quantitative discipline. Degree provides foundational technical knowledge to engage credibly with architects and engineering teams on complex technical decisions.
Advanced Training or Certifications in Project ManagementProfessional development in program management, technical project management, or related disciplines such as PMP, Scrum, or SAFe certifications. Formalized training in agile methodologies, technical delivery frameworks, or enterprise program management is valued.

Experience

7+ Years Customer-Facing Technical LeadershipMinimum seven years of hands-on experience in customer-facing technical roles with significant project leadership responsibility. Track record demonstrating ability to lead large, complex, high-stakes customer engagements where outcomes depended on tight technical coordination and rapid decision-making.
AI/LLM System Deployment SuccessProven track record of successfully shipping AI or large language model systems from conception through production adoption. Experience navigating the unique challenges of AI deployments including model evaluation, prompt optimization, RAG systems, or other generative AI architectures in enterprise contexts.
Enterprise Sector Domain ExpertiseDeep expertise in at least one major regulated or complex industry sector such as healthcare, financial services, energy, semiconductors, or professional services. Understanding of sector-specific compliance requirements, workflows, risk tolerance, and how to position technical solutions credibly within industry contexts.
Multi-Team Coordination and ExecutionExtensive experience coordinating delivery across multiple engineering teams, research organizations, and customer organizations simultaneously. Demonstrated ability to operate effectively in high-ambiguity environments, simplify complex dynamics, and maintain momentum across distributed teams.

Skills

Required skills

Technical Program ManagementExpert-level ability to plan, execute, and manage complex technical programs with multiple workstreams, dependencies, and stakeholders. Includes roadmap development, risk management, progress tracking, critical path management, and decision-making under uncertainty.
AI/LLM Systems KnowledgeIn-depth understanding of large language model capabilities, limitations, deployment patterns, cost optimization, prompt engineering, fine-tuning approaches, and evaluation frameworks. Knowledge of how LLM systems integrate with enterprise applications and databases.
Customer-Centric Problem SolvingAbility to deeply understand customer business challenges, workflows, and success criteria, then design technical solutions that directly address customer pain points. Strong empathy for customer perspectives and commitment to outcome-based delivery rather than feature completeness.
Cross-Functional CommunicationExceptional ability to translate between technical and business stakeholders, explaining complex technical trade-offs to executives and converting strategic direction into day-to-day technical execution. Executive presence and credibility with C-suite stakeholders.
Adaptability and Ambiguity ManagementComfort operating in high-uncertainty environments where requirements evolve, technical approaches must adapt, and priorities shift. Ability to simplify complex problems, identify core issues, and maintain progress despite incomplete information.
Systems Thinking and Pattern RecognitionCapability to step back from execution details and recognize patterns across multiple deployments. Skill in connecting customer needs to scalable, reusable solutions and identifying architectural approaches that improve efficiency and reduce technical debt.

Nice to have

Enterprise Integration and API ExperienceExperience integrating sophisticated solutions with existing enterprise systems, managing API contracts, handling data governance requirements, and solving complex integration challenges in regulated industries.
Change Management and Adoption LeadershipTrack record successfully leading organizational change initiatives, managing stakeholder adoption of new systems, addressing resistance, and building user advocacy for transformative technology implementations.
Healthcare, Financial Services, or Energy Sector ExperienceDirect experience in regulated industries with compliance requirements, risk management frameworks, and enterprise decision-making processes. Understanding of how these sectors evaluate and adopt emerging technologies like AI.
Metrics Definition and Data-Driven Decision MakingStrong capability defining success metrics, establishing baseline measurements, and using data to drive decision-making. Experience designing impact measurement frameworks and communicating ROI to stakeholders with different priorities.
Research-to-Product TranslationExperience partnering with research organizations to identify promising research directions applicable to customer problems and translating academic research into production systems. Understanding how to prototype and validate research directions with customers.

Compensation & benefits

Salary

EUR 140,000 – 220,000 (annual)

Stock options

Available

Benefits

Equity and Stock Options

Competitive equity package with stock options or RSU grants as part of overall compensation structure, providing long-term financial upside aligned with company success.

Hybrid Work Model

Flexible arrangement with 3 days per week in Madrid office, enabling local collaboration while maintaining work-life balance. Model designed to accommodate travel requirements and customer engagement schedules.

Relocation Assistance

Comprehensive support for candidates relocating to Madrid, including visa assistance, housing support, and transition services to enable smooth relocation from other locations.

Professional Development

Access to training programs, conference attendance, and continuous learning opportunities to develop project management, technical, and leadership skills in rapidly evolving AI landscape.

International Mobility

Opportunity to travel up to 50% to customer sites, gaining exposure to diverse industries, markets, and technical challenges across OpenAI's global enterprise customer base.

Health and Wellness Benefits

Comprehensive health insurance, mental health support, wellness programs, and fitness benefits consistent with OpenAI's commitment to employee wellbeing in Madrid location.

Apply for this position

You'll be redirected to the company's application page

OpenAI

OpenAI

View all jobs

OpenAI is an American artificial intelligence research organization developing advanced AI models like GPT. Focused on ensuring AI benefits humanity, it creates tools for natural language processing and generative AI applications.

San Francisco, California, United StatesFounded 2015openai.com

Tech Stack

Languages
PythonSQLTypeScript/JavaScript
Frameworks
LangChain or LlamaIndexFastAPI or FlaskVector Database Ecosystems
Databases
PostgreSQL and Relational DatabasesVector DatabasesCloud Data Warehouses
Tools
OpenAI API and PlatformGit and Version ControlContainer Orchestration and DeploymentProject and Collaboration ToolsAnalytics and Monitoring Platforms
Other
Enterprise API Integration PatternsData Privacy and Compliance FrameworksPrompt Engineering and EvaluationCost Optimization for AI Systems

Interview Guides

5 guides available for OpenAI

Apply Now

On this page